Renewed Calls for Iranian Private Banking

A Veteran Iranian lawmaker and a lecturer in economics calls for the restoration of private banks in Iran

A veteran Iranian lawmaker and a lecturer in economics has supported the restoration of private banks in Iran, a newspaper was quoted as saying by Kuwaiti news agency (KUNA) Monday.

Member of the parliamentary budget and planning commission, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, told the conservative Tehran Times that private banking would play an "effective role in the flourishing of society by operating within the framework of the central bank of Iran."

All Iranian banks were nationalized soon after the 1979 Islamic revolution, said KUNA.

However, in recent years political and economic circles and citizens have demanded a revision of the two-decade-old decision, which is now law, the agency said, adding complaints center around inefficiency, poor services, cumbersome regulations and bureaucracy of the bloated banking industry.

Amber Karbassian who teaches at the Iran banking institute was quoted by the as saying "if granted equal opportunity, private banks will be more efficient and more productive than the mismanaged state-owned banks," - Albawaba.com